Sailing on Lake Pontchartrain in 15mph wind with 3 foot seas. Relatively calm since the wind was coming from my side of the lake. Got up to about 8mph downwind, but I had to reef because it felt too dangerous when I almost pitchpoled. Should have had life jackets on, but we forgot to get them out of the hatch.

Madwand:I'm happy to see you got all of your earlier problems resolved. It looks like you had a very nice sailing day. One of these days I need to invest in yet another waterproof camera (I've already wrecked 3 of them), I'm currently cut off financially from the boss (wife) for ruining both my Breitling watch and our Olympus waterproof camera both on the same day while out on the TI.Bob

I am still having issues with the steering, but I am beginning to suspect that is just the nature of the beast. The steering is always really hard to turn to windward. It feels like that little string is going to break at any moment, so I tend to not steer as hard as I would like. This results in me not getting where I want to go frequently. But the times I have really cranked down on it to turn to windward, it's not very responsive at all. I have found that sometimes I'll go over a log or sandbar and then the steering becomes noticeably worse and I remember to pull the "down" cable and it goes back to normal. But normal is not much to speak of.

My GF loves it, she gets giddy every time we get on a good tack. She doesn't like the cold weather gear though. It is very uncomfortable to wear and the latex cuffs in the pants hurt your ankles, even after two weeks of being stretch around large soup cans. We just went Monday and the temp was 75°, so we were sweating in the sun. Much better!

Very nice video, is that a GoPro? I'm totally new to this (only out twice and the season is over here for me) but I did have to re-do my steering. I was wondering if maybe one of your knots (if you have the replacement rudder) is coming against the guide tube at the rudder. If you haven't don this already, open the back hatch and watch the lines as someone turns the tiller.... you may be able to see what is binding.

Also, I use sailing gloves in all but the lightest air.... much easier on the hands when sheeting or furling if you haven't tried them. Rich

She doesn't like the cold weather gear though. It is very uncomfortable to wear and the latex cuffs in the pants hurt your ankles, even after two weeks of being stretch around large soup cans.

Madwind,I had the same problem with my wrist cuffs and neck. Have your GF cut off a small sliver, about 1/16" off of each ankle cuff, and see how it feels. It should still be very tight, but not painful. You want to keep that water out. And note that the latex does, over time, relax a bit. So be gentle on the amout of latex you remove. I found the more I have worn my suit, the less uncomfortable I feel with the tight cuffs. I also didn't have any luck with stretching the latex over large cans.Good to see you are happily sailing.

Got up to about 8mph downwind, but I had to reef because it felt too dangerous when I almost pitchpoled.

Good to see you out on the water at last! Don't feel bad about reefing- that's what it's for. I would have done the same as you in those conditions, though not because I was concerned about pitchpoling as that's highly unlikely. As a guide, when the lee ama is submerging like that you reef. You will actually go faster and have less chance of breaking something.The other option is to get out on the tramps. The TI is perfect for this and with the 'crew' hiking out the handling is greatly improved in windier conditions. Here's a pic on a broadreach with gusts around 20knots. The sail is furled a bit but the TI is nicely balanced, even with my wife hiking out, the windward ama is mostly just out of the water.